THE LITERATURE/
LITERARY ESSAY
GRADE: 10
WHAT IS A LITERATURE ESSAY?
What is a literature essay?
■ A literature essay is writing about a novel/drama and making judgements about
the themes, structure, characters or symbols within it.
RULES
1. The most important rule of a literature essay is knowing your themes, symbols
and characters!
2. You cannot write a literature essay if you have not read the book.
3. NEVER…EVER…EVER write a narrative account in a literature essay.
4. Your teacher knows the story, you must comment on the story, NOT retell it.
5. You have to answer the essay question posed by the examiner by analysing the
topic and providing enough, relevant evidence to support their statements.
STEPS IN WRITING A LITERATURE
ESSAY
STEP 1:
■ Analyse the question that is given to you.
■ Question example:
THIS IS THE
QUESTION LEAD OR
STATEMENT
In the novel, Mother to Mother written by Sindiwe Magona, Mxolisi is a victim of the
state of affairs in an apartheid-ridden South Africa.
Based on your readings of the first five chapters of the novel, critically evaluate the
extent to which you agree with this statement. Your essay must be 300-350.
Try to understand what does it mean to CRITICALLY EVALUATE.
ALWAYS LOOK FOR THE
QUESTION WORDS TO MAKE
SURE YOU ANSWER THE
QUESTION
STEP 2
Write an introduction
1. The first paragraph in an essay, includes the T-A-G
and claim statements
■ T A G= “TITLE, AUTHOR, GENRE’ STATEMENT. You must identify
each of these in the introductory paragraph of a literature essay.
■ Example: “ In the novel, Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona.”
2. CLAIM/ argument statement
■ This is the sentence in which the writer clearly states the claim/
argument of the essay. This sentence will likely be the sentence of the
introductory paragraph.
THE CLAIM/ARGUMENT STATEMENT
■ The claim or argument statement tells your reader what to expect:
it is a restricted, precisely worded declarative sentence that states
the purpose of your essay-the point you are trying to make.
■ For example:
■ The novel, Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona takes places
during the apartheid era of 1993 in South Africa. We are
introduced to various characters but Mxolisi turns out to be the
character that is vastly affected by the apartheid regime. Many
factors such as; the community, bantu education, being black and
underprivileged lead to Mxolisi becoming a victim of his
circumstances.
STEP 3
WRITE THE BODY PARAGRAPHS
■ YOU SHOULD HAVE AN ARGUMENT
Good arguments have FOUR BASIC INGREDIENTS
1. P= A point/ statement that you are trying to prove
2. E= Evidence that supports your point
3. E= An explanation of how your evidence proves
your point
4. L= A link that refers back to the topic
■ Example:
In the novel, Mother to Mother written by Sindiwe Magona, Mxolisi is a victim of the state of
affairs in an apartheid-ridden South Africa.
Based on your readings of the first five chapters of the novel, critically evaluate the extent
to which you agree with this statement. Your essay must be 300-350.
Introduction
The novel, Mother to Mother by Sindiwe Magona takes places during the apartheid era
of 1993 in South Africa. We are introduced to various characters but Mxolisi turns out to
be the character that is vastly affected by the apartheid regime. Many factors such as;
the community, bantu education, being black and underprivileged lead to Mxolisi
becoming a victim of his circumstances.
Body
P= Mxolisi grows up in a Black township known as Gugulethu.
E= Mandisa the mother of Mxolisi explains that they stay in a tin shack (hokkie), all these
houses are one-size-fits all in Gugulethu.
E= In the township of Gugulethu many of the people are exposed poverty, unemployment
and crime and that is why they cannot afford to stay in a bigger house as they do not earn a
large amount of income.
L= Having Mxolisi exposed to this environment daily has an influences on his choices.
■ STEP 4
THE CONCLUSION
■ Your literary analysis essay should have a concluding paragraph
that gives your essay a sense of completeness and lets your
readers know that they have come to the end of your paper.
■ Your concluding paragraph might restate the claim in different
words, summarize the main points you have made, or make a
relevant comment about the literary work you are analyzing, but
from a different perspective. Do not introduce a new topic in your
conclusion.
Essay question
1. Write a literary essay of 300-350 words on Mother to Mother
in which you discuss TWO of the following themes:
 Forced Removals
 Government Brutality
 Response to white rule
Things to mention :